Week 20: "Who do you say I am?"

Video is usually posted early Sunday afternoon.

Text: This week we’re covering Luke 9:18-36 which contains Peter’s confession of Jesus as “the Christ, the Son of the Living God”, Jesus prediction of his coming death, a lesson on the cost of discipleship, as well as an episode called the Transfiguration.

Other passages to read: There are parallel passages to these pericopes in the other gospels:

·         Peter’s Confession of Christ: Matthew 16:13-20; Mark 8:27-30

·         Jesus Predicting his own death: Matthew 16:21-23; Mark 8:31-33

·         Take up your Cross: Matthew 16:24-28; Mark 8:34- 9:1

·         The Transfiguration: Matthew 17:1-13; Mark 9:2-13

Points to ponder: In your study this week, you might want to think about one of these questions:

• When Jesus asked who the crowd thought he was, how could the crowd have come to those conclusions? John? Elijah? Jeremiah? One of the other prophets?
• Does Jesus deny the title of “Christ” or “Son of God” (in the Matthew’s longer account)?
• What did it mean to be the Christ?
• How did Jesus’ understanding differ from that of the disciples and the common cultural view?
• Could Jesus have been any clearer about what would happen to him?
• What does it mean to take up your cross daily?
• What did Jesus mean in verse 27, that “some standing here will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God”?

Questions to ask ourselves: The following questions are intended to help us move towards greater application of what we learn about Jesus…

• What is the confession of our family regarding Jesus? Our co-workers? Our neighbors?
• What is our confession about Jesus? Who do we say that He is? What do our words reveal?
• Do our actions (attitudes, behaviors, lifestyle choices) say about who we really think Jesus is?
• Have we ever been like Peter and said stuff without really knowing what  we were saying?
• Peter, James, and John learned an important lesson direct from God that day on the mountain what was it? 

Pastor Randy’s Sermon Notes: "Disciples: Believing, Following, Revealing"

1.    Believing: Seeing and Confessing (9:18-22) 

2.    Following: Denying and Dying (9:23-27)

3.    Revealing:  Listening and Trusting (Luke 9:18-36)

2 Corinthians 3:18 And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

We are reflectors of that glory in two ways:

            A) When we worship Jesus.
            B) When we listen to his words and live.

2 Peter 1:19-21 “And we have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”

1 John 3:1-3 “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.”

Word Studies: There are several words in this passage whose meanings we may have never stopped to consider.

• Christ = (Strongs #5547 Χριστός, Christos) The Greek word translating the Hebrew word “Messiah” which mean “Anointed One.” What was Jesus anointed to do?
• Son of Man = Jesus’ favorite term to use to refer to himself. Indicates not only his humanity but alludes to a passage in Daniel 7:13-14.  Also was favorite term of Ezekiel’s.
• Transfigured = (Strongs #3339 μεταμορφόω, metamorphoō) While Luke did not use this actual word, it is used in the parallel accounts (Matt. 17:2; Mark 9:2). Warren Wiersbe writes, “The word means ‘a change in appearance that comes from within,’ and it gives us the English word metamorphosis.”

Quotes & Commentary:

In this familiar passage, we have two important events which occurred eight days apart—Peter’s confession, and the Transfiguration. Hopefully as you read this chapter you can see why these events are connected. Are there common words and actions? Is there a developing theme that unites the following sections of the text? Yes and yes!

·         Peter’s Confession of Christ (v.18-20)

“Jesus’ first question and the answers he receives are reminiscent of the earlier report about Herod’s concern over Jesus’ identity in 9:7-9.This suggests the thematic nature of Herod’s question, but also prepares for the conspicuous and important contrast between vv 7-9 and 18-20: Herod is aware of public opinion, rejects it, but remains perplexed, unseeing, while the disciples are aware of public opinion, reject it, and go on to respond (accurately!) to the question of Jesus’ status.” (Leon Morris, The Gospel of Luke, Eerdmans, 369.)

Jesus makes it very clear that they were to speak no more of his being the Messiah at that time, for if they had done so it most likely would have sparked a revolution against Rome and that was not the ordained purpose of God that Jesus was following. Jesus, after warning his followers strongly about this began to clarify what it really meant to be the Messiah and what it really meant to be a follower of the Messiah.

“Luke’s presentation of the inseparability of Christology and discipleship reaches its acme in the tightly woven sequence of this narrative unit. In the moments following Jesus’ acclamation by Peter as the Messiah of God, Jesus moves immediately from his clarification of the nature of messiahship to his interpretation of the nature of discipleship.” (Leon Morris, The Gospel of Luke, Eerdmans, 366.)

·         Jesus Predicting his own death (v. 21-22)

“Now that the crucial question has been answered, Jesus must undeceive his followers. For them, the Messiah is the victorious conqueror of the Romans who will set up his earthly kingdom. Never could any of them have believed that the Messiah had in fact come to die for them and for the Romans as well. So before the echo of Peter’s answer has died away, Jesus tells them that being the messiah means he must “suffer many things…be killed, and be raised the third day.” (Michael Card, Luke: The Gospel of Amazement, IVP, 124.)

·         Take up your Cross (v. 23-27)

“Jesus was known as a prophet, and when people asked what he was up to they went for models to prophets old and new, from Elijah to John the Baptist…But Jesus was more than that. Prophet he certainly was; but he was not simply pointing to God’s kingdom some way off in the future, he was causing it to appear before people’s eyes, and was setting into motion the events through which it would become firmly established.” (N.T. Wright, Luke for Everyone, 111.)

 “As dreadful as his destiny as Son of Man might be, those who choose to follow him may expect nothing other than the opposition that will become his trademark by the end of the narrative. This is not because Jesus is a masochist who embraces suffering, but because he is unreservedly committed to the purpose of God—a purpose that resists, and is resisted by, the habits and patterns and powers of the larger world. As the Son of Man fulfills God’s design, he will encounter hostility and experience great suffering; can those who follow him along the path of God’s purpose expect less?” (Leon Morris, The Gospel of Luke, Eerdmans, 371-372.)

“The world is being turned upside down, and anyone who wants to come through and be present when God’s kingdom appears will have to be prepared to be turned upside down and inside out with it…Jesus didn’t come with the message that if we followed him we would have an easy life, with everything happening exactly as we would like it. Just the reverse. To save your life you have to lose it…Jesus’ swift movement, from asking who they think he is to summoning them to follow him even to the death, shows clearly enough that we cannot separate thinking from action in the Christian faith…There are no half measures in the kingdom of God.” (N.T. Wright, Luke for Everyone, 111-112.

·         The Transfiguration (v. 28-36)

“The purpose of the Transfiguration was to strengthen the heart of Jesus as he was praying long about his approaching death and to give these chosen three disciples a glimpse of his glory for the hour of darkness coming. On one on earth understood the heart of Jesus and so Moses and Elijah came. The poor disciples utterly failed to grasp the significance of it all.” (A. T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament, Vol, 2 Luke, Baker, 131.)

“Though his work is built on and shaped by theirs [Moses and Elijah], their interpreting and legitimating presence is no longer needed. God himself has unveiled and sanctioned Jesus’ status and mission. The journey that must be fulfilled in his. The voice the apostles are to heed is his. Indeed, as Luke will make clear, even these OT figures are now interpreted by Jesus, for his role as divine spokesperson has been endorsed by God himself. That is, it is not so much that the time of the law and prophets has passed as it is that Jesus has been designated as their authorized interpreter.” (Leon Morris, The Gospel of Luke, Eerdmans, 384.)

Previously on Ponderables:

• How does Jesus’ sending of the apostles out to minister in power effect our lives and how we minister? We also have been given authority in the name of Jesus and power in the Holy Spirit to fulfill our calling.
• Is Jesus still able to work miracles in the lives of those that put their trust in him? Yes he is. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today, and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8)
• Leading up to Luke 9:11 (also Mark 6:34; Matt.14:14), what stresses and pressures had Jesus and his disciples experienced that would cause them to go on a “retreat” and that makes Jesus’ response all the more amazing? In chapter 8 they had endured a sudden storm on the lake, encountered a terrifying demoniac and the whole herd of pigs event and were squeezed by the crowd. Them in 9:1-11 they had been sent on a mission for the first time on their own, healing, preaching and casting out demons. It had been a wildly successful time but one that surely produced fatigue. In addition, it was likely at this time that the news about John the Baptist’s murder reached them. It had been a period of extreme emotional ups and downs.
• How would we respond in similar circumstances? You would have to answer this for yourself, but as an introvert I would certainly be really ready for some quiet time away from people for a bit.
• What is the relationship between “brokenness” and “usefulness” in this miraculous narrative? Before it is useful it is blessed and broken. I think it is the same with us today. We are not useful for the kingdom until we are humble before the Lord.
• What did your reading of the parallel accounts of the feeding of the 5,000 add to your understanding of this miracle? Don’t let its familiarity short-change you…read it closely! Lots of unique details that smacks of authentic eyewitness testimony.